Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) are well known and employed generally to convert an analog signal to a digital signal. For example, an ADC is typically employed to sample and encode an analog electrical signal to create a digital electrical signal.
One drawback of a typical ADC is that it is entirely electronic and therefore inherently limited by its electronic components. For example, an ADC may be difficult to design for frequencies of 10 GHz or greater and, consequently, the ADC may limit the speed of certain applications, such as for example high-bandwidth communication applications. As a result, there is a need for improved ADC techniques.